Yesterday We Warned (too late) Against Using Energy As A Weapon - Salazar is "chilling the resumption of OCS activities" -

Commentary: Yesterday, we warned that Canada's decision to deprive China of oil sands energy because of its contribution to carbon emissions could result in a growing trend (spreading in Russia and Europe) toward using energy as a political and social weapon in international diplomacy.  As I was writing that message a 'greening' U.S. Congress was doing precisely what I feared, attacking Canada's oil sands carbon footprint (See the article below).  Those U.S. Congressmen involved are especially short-sighted insofar as their Administration allies insist on diminishing U.S. energy production by putting a moratorium on energy activity that is unrelated to the Gulf of Mexico tragedy.  Who will suffer from all of this political posturing in Canada and the U.S. to worship at the Climate Change Alter: why, American and Canadian consumers, of course.  -dh

Globe and Mail by Shawn McCarthy.  Environment Minister Jim Prentice (NGP Photo) on Wednesday trumpeted the Harper government’s climate-change action in advance of this week’s global leaders summit, but his upbeat message was undermined when 50 members of U.S. Congress announced their opposition to growing imports from Canada’s “filthy” oil sands.

Reuters (6/23) reports, “Hornbeck Offshore Services (HOS.N) and other companies that won an injunction blocking a six-month U.S. moratorium on deepwater drilling have asked the judge to enforce his ruling after an Obama administration official said he would try to keep the ban in place. In a federal court in New Orleans on Tuesday, Judge Martin Feldman granted an injunction blocking the moratorium on the grounds that it was too broad, arbitrary and not sufficiently justified despite the massive spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar (NGP Photo) said on Wednesday he would try to reformulate the moratorium and would include criteria for ending it, prompting the request by Hornbeck and the other companies. "Secretary Salazar's comments have the obvious effect of chilling the resumption of OCS activities, which is precisely the wrong this court sought to redress through its preliminary injunction order, " the companies said in their request to Feldman filed on Wednesday. Obama administration officials "have chosen to ignore and disobey it," they said.

Alaska Dispatch by Craig Medred.  "The Gray Lady," the national newspaper of record, or what used to be such, is headlining "BP Is Pursuing Alaska Drilling Some Call Risky." The drilling in question is the Liberty prospect, the most important drilling scheduled for this year in the Prudhoe Bay area, and the "some" are an unnamed "scientist" or two supposedly with the U.S. Minerals Management Service and an advocate for an environmental group.

CBC.  Yukon First Nations along the Alaska Highway are getting advice about their land claim rights if a natural gas pipeline ever gets built.  The Alaska Highway Aboriginal Pipeline Coalition has compiled a guide on First Nations' rights and expectations if a long-proposed pipeline from Alaska goes ahead.